NC declares state of emergency in Outer Banks
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Erin, national hurricane center
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Residents in the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos on Monday braced for the Atlantic season's first hurricane, the Category 4 Erin, after it strengthened over the weekend while sweeping past Caribbean islands.
While the category 4 storm is not expected to make landfall on the U.S. east coast, it will have an impact nonetheless. Dangerous high surf and rip currents are expected from Florida to New England throughout the week.
Parts of North Carolina's Outer Banks are under mandatory evacuation orders, as the National Hurricane Center warns that Hurricane Erin could bring tall waves topping 15 to 20 feet.
Hurricane Erin is likely to restrengthen again as it passes east of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the southeast Bahamas on Monday after lashing the Caribbean with damaging winds and flooding rain.